“System modeling allows integrated simulations of multiple component types in one place, to note physical interactions and design limitations early in product development. In aerospace and automotive, nearly 100% of engineering takes place through system modeling. Other industries rarely conduct design work through system modeling — though that’s changing. Open-source software called Modelica is one standard for this breed of system-level and production-process development. Its core is a modeling language supported by a standard library of electrical, mechanical, thermal, and fluidic components.”

“With an acausal modeling tool, such as MapleSim, each modeling block is a discrete physical component, such as a spring or a mechanical joint. Each block maps directly to a physical component in your system, effectively eliminating the need to derive and manipulate equations by hand, and resulting in a model diagram that's more visually representative of the real system. This is possible because the associated physical laws are already embedded with the component.”

“The overarching key to effective MBD is that complex products, like UAVs, need to be considered as whole systems in order to understand how the multitude of subsystems interact with each other over the entire range of duties. This needs to be done very early in the design stage so that as the design evolves, the functional behavior can be validated throughout the process, thus ensuring it continues to fulfill the design goals of the product.”

“Soaring product complexities across many industries, including automotive (electric and hybrid vehicles), aerospace (unmanned aerial vehicles), and energy (smart grids, green power), are putting a tremendous strain on the engineering toolchain. As a result, system-level modeling stands out as an increasingly important approach to engineering design…Modelica seems to be emerging as the standard for describing system-level models.”

“The industry is turning increasingly to math-based modeling techniques which allow engineers to accurately describe the behaviour of the system, and the constraints on the system, in physical terms. These model equations are then used to develop, test, and refine designs very quickly, and without the expense and time required to build physical prototypes.”

“As various engineering domains merge in a single product design, the gaps between tools dedicated to individual engineering domains are most keenly felt. This lack has fostered a new approach to product design, and new tools to support it. In particular, a new multidomain approach has been evolving in Europe, and is starting to gain acceptance in the U.S. and elsewhere. The approach is based on an object-oriented language called Modelica.”

“There is more to this than simply saving time and money: by developing sufficiently high-fidelity models of their systems, the question is evolving from “Will it work?” to “How can we make it work better?” By applying rigorous analysis and optimization techniques, engineers can determine design parameters that will improve the system’s performance and efficiency before the first prototype is built… It is only at this system level that the engineer gains true insight into how all the subsystems and components interact, and what effects a design change in one subsystem can have on another.”

“There is more to this than simply saving time and money: by developing sufficiently high-fidelity models of their systems, the question is evolving from “Will it work?” to “How can we make it work better?” By applying rigorous analysis and optimization techniques, engineers can determine design parameters that will improve the system’s performance and efficiency before the first prototype is built.”

“Over the last decade there has been a remarkable push toward acausal modeling environments, such as MapleSim from Maplesoft, which takes a different approach to modeling. Rather than representing mathematics directly, models use components that contain governing equations, and it is incumbent on the solver to perform the mathematical manipulation.”

“...the industry is turning increasingly to math-based modeling techniques that allow engineers to accurately describe the behavior of the system--and the constraints on the system--in physical terms. These model equations are then used to develop, test and refine designs quickly, without building physical prototypes. Hence, having a good virtual model of the battery is essential so that both battery behavior and the physical interaction of the battery with all the other components are properly reflected in the model.”

“One constant of battery research is the need to consider fundamental physical concepts when designing new batteries. To facilitate this, the industry increasingly uses math-based modeling techniques that let engineers accurately describe the behavior and the constraints on a system, in physical terms. The model equations then help in developing, testing, and refining designs quickly and without building physical prototypes.”

Considering the average car of today as a whole, as a machine, one can estimate its overall energy conversion efficiency to be as low as 10 per cent, so there is huge scope for improvement… our tools have strengths in the mechanical and electrical markets.